Japanese to make his dream come true, which is going on to a world tour. "Inti Raymi" is Quechuan (Incan language) for "festival of the sun." Life and career 1979–2000 In 1993 when he was 14 years old in junior high school, Naoto started learning how to play the guitar and writing songs. In 1995, he moved on to high school and started making songs more seriously and self-produced his own album with the songs he had made. He also began playing his songs on the streets to improve his performing skills. Those street performances helped him create his signature style of getting his audience more actively involved in the live experience. In 1999, while he was a student at Chuo University, he had his first international trip in his life to New York City. Although he was just a tourist sightseeing, he was somehow called up onto the stage at Apollo Theater in Harlem. Not scared at all even by the totally unexpected opportunity, he grabbed the microphone and successfully entertained the audience, improvising with the band there. The standing ovation he received there and the experience of exciting people with his music even with the language barrier instilled a new dream in him, which is to be a world-class performer. 2001–2004 "Naoto" Period In 2001, he signed a record deal with Sony Music Records and made a debut onto the scene. In June 2002, he released the album "Funk Renaissance", however it did not enjoy any hit singles out of it. After releasing another single in September that year, he had to stop making new songs and the record deal was terminated. Disappointed, he took time off to regroup himself. Remembering his dream of going on to a world tour, which the Apollo Theater experience brought to him, he decided to travel around the world to grow as a person and experience the different styles of music worldwide. In August 2003, his journey began. Before he came back to Japan in December that year, he had visited 28 countries, realizing the world can offer much more than what he had seen on TV. In particular, the Middle Eastern countries and the warmth of the people there gave him a totally new perspective on his career goal, which is to make the world a more peaceful place with his music. He was given an opportunity to perform in front